Social Media Today: Who is actually making money with it?

February 12, 2016

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Five and a half years after I originally wrote this post the question remains: who is actually CASHING MORE CHECKS because of Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc?

As 2018is upon us we know a few things:

  • Mobile is king…and so is video

  • You gotta pay to play

  • We’re now in “attention arbitrage” mode

  • There are still “riches in niches,” so embrace the passion of your followers and figure out how to segment down

Mobile Marketing Is King

Back in 2015 mobile searches surpassed desktop searches for the first time ever, and will never look back. 

Per Google, “In fact, more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan.”

So instead of having a mobile-responsive website, you need to actually design your site for mobile first and work backwards to the desktop to get ahead of this curve.

“But Wes, mobile is not social media.”

Really? 

  • 46.2% of the world’s 7.4 billion people have an internet connection

  • 67.5% of those with an internet connection have a social media account,

  • 50.15% of the world’s population has a mobile account

  • 51.9% of all unique mobile users in the world are active social media users.

That’s 1.968 BILLION unique users logging in to social media accounts from their mobile devices

As you can see, mobile is social, and social is accessed via mobile first and foremost. So what are you doing to capture the hearts and minds of your mobile prospects and customers?

You Gotta Pay To Play

YouTube is offering YouTube Red, a $9.99/mo option to avoid seeing ads.

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Facebook organic reach of your page is somewhere between 2-4% and will not go up! 

Snapchat has Discover as well as options to pay for Replays.

Twitter has Sponsored Tweets.

Instagram has Sponsored images and videos.

When you can create a profile on a social media platform for free, YOU are the product. Your eyeballs. Your attention. Your Likes and Shares and Follows and clickthroughs.

And there ain’t no use in complaining about something you’re getting for free.

As Gary V always says, it’s us marketers who come along and mess up a perfectly fine platform by figuring out how to monetize people watching cat videos.

But it is what it is. Heck, even the creator of the term “Inbound Marketing” pays Facebook to get and keep your attention.

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Attention Arbitrage

If you find yourself asking “what’s up with this Snapchat? Isn’t that for affairs?,” realize you were asking similar questions like:

  • Why do people want to see what I’m eating on Twitter?

  • What can I do on a 6-second video on Vine?

  • Facebook? Isn’t that for college kids?

  • Pinterest? What am I going to do, take a picture of the blog I just wrote?

  • YouTube? Who wants to watch video online?

This week I got to hear Gary Vaynerchuk again and he is high on Snapchat now and after hearing him stomp his foot over this platform for weeks not I finally get it.

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People are walking around like zombies staring at their smartphones and most of the time they’re on social media platforms.

So if they’re going to be looking at funny or interesting or educational things to take their minds off of whatever it is they are avoiding, why not do what you can to ensure they’re looking at you.

This is the idea of “attention arbitrage.” We need to be where our prospects and our clients are so

  • we remain top of mind,

  • they know, like and trust us, 

  • and they remain open to our suggestions and recommendations.

Platforms like Snapchat also represent digital land grabs. You never know which platform will take off so dive in to them all, at least to secure your username and protect your brand name and be ready to run with it if the platform takes off and if it’s the right demographic for your business. 

And believe it or not, many platforms have many more benefits and access points to many more demographics and industries than you might think…so think more about it.

Riches In Niches

The growth of social media platforms gives the small guy the ability to find and deliver their voices in a world that was previously dominated by large brands with Madison Avenue marketing firms that could blanket the market with their adsNow small woodworking shops in cities like Quintin, AL can make a simple video with a smart phone, share it on the Facebook page and explode to 25,000+ fans, have the video seen and shared millions of times, orders flood in from around the country, and people asking to buy the rights to his plans so they can make the same cabinet he shared online.

According to NewsCred, “interesting content” brands produce via social media is one of the top three reasons people follow you. So are you interesting? Are you “followable?” Are you “shareable?”

These skills can be learned. You now have a little more insight into how to leverage social media to make money. Now start doing. 

If you need more help growing your sales, check out the following resources scattered around this site and a few others I operate, such as:

Good Selling,

Wes Schaeffer Infusionsoft Sales & Sales Training Signature